Dolman Travel Book Award shortlist

The six shortlisted titles for the 2012 Dolman Travel Book of the Year award have been announced. They are: 
Thin Paths; journeys in and around an Italian Village, by Julia Blackburn; 
To a Mountain in Tibet, by Colin Thubron; 
To the River: a Journey Beneath the Surface, by Olivia Laing; 
White Fever, by Jacek Hugo-Bader;
Wild Coast, by John Gimlette Harlem is Nowhere, by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts.

The winner will be announced on 5th September in London. Chairman of the 2012 judging panel, and founder of Lonely Planet Tony Wheeler said: "This year’s Dolman Travel Book of the Year award is going to be a difficult choice. We have cities and countries, mountains and rivers, driving and walking, but probably most important we have judges with strong opinions on their personal favourites. So it could be strolling the streets of Harlem in New York or walking the length of the River Ouse in England. Will it be driving to Siberia in a beat up old Soviet era car or exploring the mountain paths around an Italian village? Perhaps circumnavigating a holy mountain in Tibet or exploring the trio of Guyanas in South America? I look forward to finding out on 5 September". The Dolman is the only prize dedicated to travel literature in the UK. The £2500 prize was founded in 2006 by the Authors’ Club after the Thomas Cook Award was abandoned by the tour operator after a run of 20 years. It is open to any travel writer whose book has been first published in Britain, and looks for works of literary merit that show excellence in the tradition of great travel writing, combining a personal journey with the discovery or recovery of places, landscapes or peoples to instil a sense of place, excitement and wonder in the reader. The Authors’ Club – a club for writers, publishers, editors, agents, journalists, academics and anyone professionally involved with literature - awards three annual literary prizes: the Best First Novel Award, the Dolman Travel Book Award, and the Banister Fletcher Award for the best book on art or architecture. The 2011 award was won by Molotov’s Magic Lantern by Rachel Polonksy and in 2010 by The Dead Yard by Ian Thomson.